The following story contains MINOR SPOILERS for the upcoming second half of "Stargate: Atlantis'" third season.

Its mid-season re-launch might have been delayed a little bit longer than expected, but that doesnt mean fans should expect less from "Stargate: Atlantis."

In an interview with SciFi Wire, SciFi Channel series executive producer Joseph Mallozzi said fans can look forward to an array of "surprises and shocks" when "Atlantis" returns on April 13.

Starting with the second installment of The Return, the series continues where the last episode left\\ off with the Atlantis expedition cancelled and all of its personnel now scattered around Earth. But with the Ancients now in control of the lost city, its not exactly clear sailing when the Asurans decide to take revenge on their creators.

"They attempt to take Atlantis in part two, and whether it's successful or not, it's only the opening salvo," said Mallozzi. "The Replicator threat mounts over the course of this third season, and there's a powerful palpable loss in one episode in particular that I'm sure will shock the fans."

In the episodes leading up to the finale, the series deals with a variety of Replicator-themed stories with a few standalone adventures thrown in. One episode in particular captured Mallozzis imagination, and that was The Tao of Rodney, in which the teams smartest scientist finds an Ancient technology which causes him to evolve at a super-human speed.

He begins to evolve at a rapid pace and basically out-evolves everyone around him, he said. That's a fun episode. We've got a lot of fun episodes. Ken Cuperus is a new writer that came in and wrote an episode called 'The Ark,' where we find a space station hidden in the moon. We go on board, and once we're on board, all hell breaks loose."

Another episode that was written by Cuperus is Submersion, where a mining platform is discovered on the ocean floor. However, their exploration of the facility accidentally awakens a Wraith queen who has been in hibernation in a crashed hiveship that was damaged in the original war with the Ancients.

A few episodes later, fans can look forward to another appearance by Michael Kenmore (Connor Trinneer). This time, Michael is secretly creating an army of mutant Wraith soldiers so that he can one day go against both the Wraith and Humans for their part in making him what he was.

"And it leads all the way to 'First Strike, he says, in which the Replicators rear their ugly head and come up with a particularly diabolical plot to target Atlantis.

After learning of the plot, Altantis carries out a pre-emptive strike, however when the plan backfires, Weir (Tori Higginson) is forced to take drastic action that may change the balance of power in the Pegasus Galaxy.

"Stargate: Atlantis" airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on SciFi Channel, immediately following "Stargate: SG-1."